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Parental concerns about childhood obesity

Parental concerns about childhood obesity. David Crawford* and Tony Worsley *NHMRC/NHF Career Development Fellow. Burden of disease in Australia. Trends in obesity-related media coverage.

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Parental concerns about childhood obesity

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  1. Parental concerns about childhood obesity David Crawford* and Tony Worsley *NHMRC/NHF Career Development Fellow

  2. Burden of disease in Australia

  3. Trends in obesity-related media coverage Note: Figures represent IFIC tracking of U.S. and International (English-speaking) wire reports and print articles on the issue and do not necessarily reflect the true number of stories.

  4. Obesity in Australian children (1995/97) Booth et al, ANZJPH 2001

  5. Trends in childhood obesity • Prevalence has probably doubled over the 10-year period 1985-95 • In a cohort of 1438 Victorian children aged 5-10 years at baseline, between 1997-2000/01: • 10% became overweight • 2% became obese Hesketh, Wake, Waters, Carlin, Crawford, Pub Health Nutr. (In press)

  6. Children’s eating and physical activity behaviours have changed

  7. Percent change in amount of food and energy density of food 1985-95

  8. How active are Australian children?

  9. Children’s physical activity habits • We don’t know how activity levels have changed over time • Walking and cycling to school has declined • Fitness levels have declined • Likely that children’s activity levels have declined • Our data suggest children engage in relatively low levels of physical activity

  10. Average time (mins/day) spent in moderate intensity activity Mins per day

  11. Average time (mins/day) spent in vigorous intensity activity Mins per day

  12. Overall cost of food has decreased Foods prepared away from home/ Availability of energy dense foods/drinks Portion sizes of some foods have increased Marketing of foods and drinks Urban sprawl and urban design Availability of private versus public transport The number of two-income families The time spent in paid employment Place of physical education in the curriculum The world we live in has changed(Jeffery and Utter, Obesity Research, 2003)

  13. Community, demographic, and societal characteristics Ethnicity Socioeconomic status Parenting styles and family characteristics Peer and sibling interactions School lunch programs Child feeding practices Child characteristics and child risk factors* Crime rates and neighborhood safety Family TV viewing Types of foods available in the home Age Gender CHILD WEIGHT STATUS Parent monitoring of child TV viewing SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR Work hours Nutritional knowledge DIETARY INTAKE School physical education programs PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Parent preference for activity Parents dietary intake Familial susceptibility to weight gain Parent activity patterns Leisure time Parent food preferences Parent encouragement of child activity Parent weight status Family leisure time activity Accessibility of recreational facilities Accessibility of convenience foods and restaurants Contextual influences on childhood obesity Davison & Birch (2001). Obesity Reviews,2, 159-171.

  14. Preventing childhood obesity • We have a poor understanding of the drivers of the obesity epidemic • Lots of candidates - little evidence • A huge range of prevention strategies have been proposed • Education strategies to promote physical activity and healthy eating • Changes to urban environment to make it safer for children to walk • Policies to ban advertising to children or taxes certain kinds of foods

  15. Community views of childhood obesity? • Parent’s views on causes and what to do to prevent it not widely canvassed! • This is despite evidence that many parents are concerned about their child’s weight • Understanding community views is important: • To establish support for preventive initiatives • To identify where these is a need to educate the community about the epidemic

  16. Our research… • Aimed to examine community views: • Causes of childhood obesity • Beliefs about prevention • Surveyed 315 adults randomly recruited at a major shopping centre • Assessed views of importance of: • 25 possible causes of obesity • 13 potential preventive measures

  17. Causes: Lack of physical activity %

  18. Causes: Overconsumption of food %

  19. Causes: Children’s lack of knowledge and motivation %

  20. Causes: Physical activity environment %

  21. Causes: The food environment %

  22. Causes: Parental responsibility %

  23. Causes: Modern technology & media %

  24. Prevention: Government action %

  25. Prevention: Children’s health promotion %

  26. Conclusions • Community recognises the causes to be multi-factorial • Key causes: overconsumption of unhealthy food; parental responsibility; modern technology; TV viewing and the mass media • Less community support for government regulation than for health promotion • There is likely to be widespread support for health promotion activities aimed at preventing childhood obesity

  27. For more information… • Take a look at our paper: International Journal of Obesity 2003; 27: 1465-1471 • Email me at: dcraw@deakin.edu.au • See our website: www.hbs.deakin.edu.au/HealthSci/Research/default.asp

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